The volcanic field has produced various types of basaltic magma and also trachyte; the most recent eruption was about 38,000 years ago and renewed activity is possible.

[4] Owing to its diverse geology and accessibility, Lunar Crater volcanic field was used to test prototype Mars rovers[5] and as a training ground for astronauts[6] for the Moon landings.

[8] The Lunar Crater volcanic field is located in Nye County,[9] in the central part[10] of the state of Nevada.

[30] Erosion has led to topographic inversion at some volcanoes, forming lava-capped mesas (hills with flat tops[31]),[32] broadening and flattening volcanic cones[33] and has led to the formation of soils and drainage networks especially on older vents;[34] additionally, desert pavement and wind-transported material has accumulated on some lava flows.

An alluvial fan and a playa fill the bottom of the crater,[2] which is the lowest point in this volcanic field,[4] while its margins are surrounded by tephra beds including ash, lapilli, scoria and tuff blocks; it appears that most of these are older rocks that were torn out of the ground and ejected during the formation of Lunar Crater.

Lava flows emanate from its western side, which reach lengths of several kilometers and after bypassing an older cone emerge onto the valley floor.

[53] Easy Chair is an about 790 feet (240 m) high and c. 1.6 miles (2.5 km) long ridge in the Lunar Lake basin.

[10] Bea's Crater just southeast from Marcath volcano[38] is the third maar in the volcanic field[54] and appears to have had a complex history.

[63] Intraplate volcanoes occur in many places of the Western United States, including along the Sierra Nevada, on the Colorado Plateau, the Basin and Range province and the Rio Grande Rift.

[71] The crust is relatively thin,[69] 19–21 miles (30–33 km),[17] and underpinned by an unusually hot mantle[69] which underneath Lunar Crater volcanic field has a slow seismic velocity.

[77] The volcanism produced ignimbrites, andesitic lavas and tuffs such as the 24 million years old Buckwheat Rim Tuff that Lunar Crater is embedded in; some of these volcanic rocks form structural blocks such as the Citadel Mountain block[3] and the Pancake Range[72] and others are correlated to ignimbrite sheets elsewhere in Nevada.

[88] In the northern part of the volcanic field, lavas have a porphyritic (with a texture characterized by visible crystals[89]) appearance.

[12] Vegetation is scarce[44] and consists mostly of sagebrush steppe with bushes like greasewood and saltbrush with grass such as Indian ricegrass underneath.

[93] The volcanic field was active in the Miocene[19]/Pliocene and Pleistocene,[3] with the oldest eruptions dated to about 6 million years ago.

[97] A mean magma flux rate of 4.1×10−6 cubic miles per year (0.000017 km3/a) has been reported for Lunar Crater volcanic field,[98] with a tendency to decrease over time[95] and changes in the composition.

[17] Many eruptions in Lunar Crater volcanic field have been dated; aside from radiometric dating[99] differences in the grade of weathering and erosion have also been used to determine the relative age of volcanic units[78] as older vents are often degraded and buried by soils:[100] Lunar Crater's own age is not known,[3] a tephra potentially correlated to it may have been emplaced 600,000 ± 30,000 to 224,000 ± 43,000 years ago.

[103] In some places, several eruptions occurred over timespans of over one million years and gave rise to closely spaced vents.

[3] Lava flows were produced at rates of about 35–3,531 cubic feet per second (1–100 m3/s)[22] and at Kimana and Broken Cone probably occurred through lateral vents.